CJ’s Story – Hope for His Next Chapter
For 40 years, people have known him as CJ—a nickname he earned decades ago, back when he could work magic on CJ-5 Jeeps.
“Yeah, I was pretty good at it,” he says with a laugh. “Good enough that ‘CJ’ just became my name.”
Since 1981, Asheville has been home. But in recent years, CJ’s health began to fail, and the physical demands of his job became more than his body could bear.
“I was working for a contractor at the time, and I got to the place where I just couldn’t keep going the way I had been,” he said. Before long, CJ lost his job, and not long after, he became homeless.
“Seeing homelessness up close changed me. If I had never become homeless myself, I don’t think I would have believed how hard it really is,” CJ said. “It’s heartbreaking. People are living in terrible situations, and once you see it for yourself, you can’t look away.”
For a time, CJ stayed at another shelter in Asheville, grateful for the support that helped him find stability. But as his medical needs grew, the environment wore him down. “I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and not thinking clearly,” he said. Eventually, a case manager referred him to The Salvation Army’s Center of Hope shelter, a place that truly made a difference.
When CJ arrived at The Salvation Army, he was physically drained and emotionally spent. “I slept that entire first week,” he said. “I was exhausted.”
In those early days, rest gave way to something deeper: a sense of safety, care, compassion, and a place to heal. “People here have heart,” CJ said. “That’s what I needed most at the time.”
CJ pauses his story to talk about what might have been.
“If this place hadn’t taken me in, I would have been on the street, and with my health, I don’t think I would have made it,” he said. “I need regular breathing treatments, and there would have been no safe way to manage that outside. When you’re vulnerable, it’s a dangerous situation.”
Today, CJ is still navigating his medical journey. Before he can have the surgery he needs, there are tests, scans, and specialists to see.
But in the waiting, CJ has found something he didn’t have before: stability. At The Salvation Army, he has a safe place to sleep, support for his medical needs, and the opportunity to stay active as he prepares for what comes next. It has given him room to heal—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—while he waits for the next chapter of his life.
When he talks about the future, his voice brightens.
“As soon as I can have the operation and recover, I want to go back to work,” CJ said. “I’d like to find a small place and work for a few more years.”
CJ doesn’t ask for much. He never has. "More than anything, I want a simple place to live, a job where I can support myself, and to be part of a community."
For a man who earned his name by fixing things, CJ is doing what he’s always done—working with what he has and believing the next chapter is worth building.